TURK'S CAP LILY (Wild Tiger Lily) 



Lilium michiganense Farw. 



June - July 

 Woods 



111 late .luiit'. when tlic gro\viii<r season in Illinois be«rins^ 

 to iit't slightly out of hand, hurgvons into wcodiness and 

 too many grasshoppers, develops lush growth in the long 

 hot days and short, steamy nights, there comes a flower which returns to 

 the more chaste and restraim^d mode of gi'owth to he found in spring- 

 time. Although the Tiiik's cap lily grows often three to live feet high, 

 it never looks weedy. It possesses neat whorls i^i tajjcring leaves hugging 

 the stiff stem, holds to the dignity and simplicity of a lily. 



In the sliadv woods or in ojumi sunny glades which one*- were woods 

 before the oaks were cut away, tiie Turk's caj) lilies hloom. The ])lants 

 are inctmspicuous until they l)l(H)m ; there is .<o imu h else, usually, grow- 

 ing around them, that the lily-form of the stalks is not at once noticenl)le. 

 But on a June day there suddenly are ])endent apricot-yellow buds shading 

 to deep orange-i-ose. Mach opens regally into six stiff, waxen. ]iink-orange 

 ])etals which eiiil back tightly while the six stamens hang in a group 

 below — stiimens wliose filaments are pale apricot-pink ti|)i)ed with ])ollen- 

 he<ny anthers of a bright lust color. There are small purple spots on the 

 orange ])etals, and the stems are pale green which perfectly complements 

 the color of the fb)wers. 



At the smnmit of the stem with its tiers of neatly arranged whorls 

 of leavers, the flower clusti'r stands. The lower grou}) of buds opens first, 

 then the others, finally those at the lip. Sometimes the entire cluster is- 

 at its best at once, and then the woods indeed are dramatic when wild 

 orange lilies ])loom. 



12G 



